• Course Description: The focus of English Language Arts 7 (ELA7) class is developing students’ skills in reading, writing, speaking, listening, grammar, and vocabulary. Students will participate in a diverse range of writing activities, assignments, and projects to strengthen their critical thinking skills, critical reading skills, and communication skills, and develop confidence in their voice as writers.

  • Overview of The Units of Study

    MP1

    • Unit 1: A Deep Study of Character

    In this unit, students will examine fictional characters and characterization (how authors create those characters). Readers will learn to notice what shapes the perspective of characters, and how the author's style and craft impact a reader's response to literature. Students will use note-taking strategies to deepen their thinking and engage in literary conversations with their peers. 

    • Unit 2: Literary Analysis: 

      In this unit, students will develop their literary analytical skills and compose a literary analysis. Students will: identify and analyze the author's purpose in particular selections. identify some literary elements used within a particular selection, including characterization, setting, plot, and theme.

    MP 2

    • Unit 3: Dystopian Literature

    This unit has been designed to develop students' reading, writing, thinking, listening and speaking skills through exercises and activities related to The Giver by Lois Lowry. Students will explore Dystopian Societies by analyzing their characteristics and interpreting what comments the author is making about our society. 

    • Unit 4: Writing a Narrative 

    In this unit, students will create their own dystopian society and write their own dystopian narrative. Students will select a current societal problem or issue in the world that their dystopian society will try to eliminate. In their stories, students will create rules and customs for their societies, a ruling government, and a hero/heroine to shine a light on the problems within the society.  

    MP 3

    • Unit 5: Reading Across the Texts

    This unit aims to apply the NJSLS Reading Informational skills while examining how authors use literacy to affirm all aspects of one’s identity and understand, connect to, and respect other perspectives and cultures. Through examining text structures and text features, learners will evaluate how authors organize writing, convey perspectives, and make connections to events that have shaped the world in which they live.  By the end of the unit, students will be able to determine the central idea, text structure, and unique qualities of information texts. Students will analyze the structure and reflect on historical/cultural context through nonfiction historical personal accounts of events that shaped the world in which we live. 

    • Unit 6: Informative/Explanatory

    The purpose of this unit is to use various nonfiction sources to examine current issues and discuss their impact in an informative/explanatory essay. Students will organize a topic, using a choice text structure to convey ideas, concepts, and information through selecting, organizing, and analyzing relevant content. Students will cite relevant evidence from various sources to support their claims about social issues and environmental issues.  By the end of the unit, students will demonstrate their ability to read and comprehend information texts and use their research to organize an informative explanatory essay. 

    MP 4

    • Unit 7: Historical Fiction/ Mini-Research

    The purpose of this unit is to research historical periods to gain knowledge about specific periods as a foundation for understanding the historical/cultural context of people and events. Through research and the presentation of information, learners can investigate how lives were shaped by the events in which they lived. Using the internet, students must decipher between the credibility and accuracy of sources in gathering evidence. Students will follow MLA formatting to avoid plagiarism and present their discoveries and connections. This unit will challenge students to compare and contrast texts to analyze the unique qualities of different mediums, including the integration of information from multiple formats and sources, to develop a deeper understanding of the concept, topic, or subject and resolve conflicting information.  By the end of the unit, students will demonstrate an understanding of the era and events through research and will present their findings to their peers. 

    • Unit 8: Reading Historical Fiction/ Book Clubs

    The purpose of this unit is to apply;y the NJSLA Reading Literature, Analysis Writing, and Speaking and Listening skills to participate in an academic book club. Students will learn about the historical fiction genre through modeling and book club groups to engage in an academic discussion, which focuses on the analysis of specific literary devices that are specific to the genre. Students will create high-level questions and come prepared to analyze and discuss aspects of their novels. By the end of the unit, students will connect their previous research about the historical period in which the story takes place in relation to the human experience in the fictional characters experienced through reading, discussions, questioning, and analysis.